My First Published Story! Kataang
by SaphirArya
Summary: Oneshot. Kataang obviously. My fist real story! Set a little after the war... Aang lives in the fire nation, and is going to visit Katara and Sokka soon, until something goes very wrong! Just read please! Rated T just because.


This is my first published story, so you better read it! The narrator is unknown (TO YOU) but if you leave a review that quesses who the character/narrator person is, I will tell you... even if you're wrong!

"We haven't seen Aang in so long! It will be nice to see him again. He should be coming pretty soon too!" Katara said excitedly.

"We all know you're excited to see your 'boyfriend' again Katara!" Sokka teased.

Katara's face turned red. "He is not my boy-"

Sokka cut his sister off. "Okay, okay. Not your boyfriend. Just keep telling yourself that Katara, and maybe you'll fall out of love with him!" Sokka seemed amused by his clever remark.

Katara blushed furiously. "What! In love… that's crazy… it doesn't make sense! How could you say that Sokka, I'm not…" Katara's voice trailed off. She had always been a horrible liar.

Just then, Hakoda walked in the door of their home with a letter in his hand. "Hi Dad, who's the letter from? What does it say?" asked Sokka, talking rapidly.

Hakoda shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but it seems really official, and it's only addressed to me. I'm going to go read it in my room." With that Chief Hakoda walked to his room to read the letter. This is what it said:

_Chief Hakoda,_

_I have some very bad news for you, something you might not want to hear. Last night Azula escaped from her prison cell. When she did, her plan all along was not just to escape, but to murder someone, someone we both knew fairly well. Now I'm just trying to stall… so not to tell you who it was she murdered, because I know you'll have to tell Katara and Sokka. Aang. She murdered Aang. It is really depressing, because I had people work on investigating why he would have lost to her, and they found something in his hand. Know what it is? I didn't. It was… just open the little package and find out. _Hakoda opened the package, and was surprised to find a beautiful engagement necklace. He read on. _ It was meant to be for Katara. When he went to visit he was going to give it to her. That's what he was doing when he was killed, making that necklace. He almost finished too, but you can tell from the big mark on the back that Azula caught him engraving it. Don't worry, Azula is going to be executed soon for what she did, so the can't cause any more damage._

_Fire Lord Zuko_

_P.S. Good luck telling Katara about this, she'll be heartbroken._

Hakoda kept staring at the sheet of paper, with the necklace in his tight fist. _No. Not Aang! He was such a strong boy. Zuko's right, Katara will be empty without him. _Hakoda thought. The Southern Water Tribe Chief took a deep breath, still holding the necklace, and headed off to find his children to tell them the awful news. As he walked out of his room, his children were staring at him.

"So, what does it say? Is it good or bad news?" Sokka asked.

"Are you okay Dad? You look sick!" Katara said worriedly.

Hakoda took a deep breath, and said, "This is very bad news, the news might make you both feel sick as well."

Suddenly, Gran-Gran appeared, "It can't be that bad, can it?" She said.

"For Sokka, and especially Katara, it might do lots more damage." Hakoda sighed, stalling.

"What can possibly be that horrible!?" asked Sokka impatiently.

But Katara's heart already started to sink in her chest as her worst fear consumed her; the one she had been having a recurring dream about. She just hoped it wasn't the same. Katara took a deep breath, and said, "Just tell us Dad! If it's big it will just get to us eventually anyway! Stop stalling!"

"If you really want to hear it then, I guess I have to stop hiding it…" He paused, "it's about … Aang."

"W-what about him?" Katara said, voice quivering. After a long silence, she said, "Dad?" almost silently.

"I can't do it… I can't." Hakoda said. He just couldn't break his daughters' heart. But he had to tell her. "Katara…" Hakoda said hesitantly, "he's… not coming to visit… Azula escaped last night and… _murdered_ him."

Katara's eyes shot open, she ran to the water's edge, and tried to waterbend herself towards the iceberg where it all started, but she couldn't. _Aang… no, it can be. You can't be gone! Why can't I waterbend?_ Katara thought. Katara was now lying in the snow, breaths rough and sobs choked. Curled up in a ball, Katara's body shook with fear and anguish.

While Katara sobbed, Sokka just stood frozen in place, in disbelief.

Hakoda ran after his daughter, picked her up like a baby, and rocked her back and forth. Still, nothing quieted her sobs. Later that night, Katara still lay in her bed where her father had set her, still sobbing loudly. Hakoda knocked on her door, and after a little waiting, let himself in. "Go… away…Dad." Katara said between sobs. "My life's been ruined, just leave me in solitude!" Katara yelled at him.

Hakoda sighed. "Katara, there was something that was attached to that letter for you. Do you know what it was?" Katara shook her head. "This." Hakoda said, as he tossed the engagement necklace to her. She caught it in her hands with a confused look on her face. "_That_," said Hakoda, "was what Aang was doing when Azula got him. _That_ was meant for you. Sadly, Aang didn't finish." Katara, with tears still falling down her face, ran to her father for comfort.

"Would you have let me?" Katara asked her father, shocking him with the question.

"Oh Katara, of course I would. I am so proud of you, for being strong." Hakoda told her soothingly.

"You know I would have said yes, right Dad?" Katara asked.

"Yes angel, I know." Hakoda whispered softly. Katara's sobs grew louder, necklace gripped tightly in hand.

In the middle of the night, Katara woke up, her face wet and tearstained. Her head turned over to the bed side table where she set the necklace. She carefully picked it up and held it in her hands, then slowly exchanged it with her mother's necklace, and put her mother's necklace on the table.

A full week later, and Katara's condition got not better. That morning, Katara went to take a walk outside, when she saw a big fluffy bison descend from the clouds, along with a lemur. Katara's eyes watered as she ran up to them, wondering how they found their way all the way back to the Southern Water Tribe. Katara took care of them now, yet another connection to Aang.

A few months later, it was Katara's 16th birthday, and she could now marry. Her father said she could choose anyone she wanted; she hated each and every one of them. She cried in her room, holding the necklace Aang made her all day. After two months without even looking at a man, Hakoda decided to choose for her, only for her own good. He made each man fight one another as a test of strength, and the strongest man gets Katara, mostly for her protection, since she lost her waterbending. Sadly, the strongest man was the most rotten. No one knew this except Katara (and Aang and I, but what could _we _do?), and only after their wedding. She hated having to wear his cruddy necklace on her neck. She wanted _Aang_. She wanted it to be _his_ necklace. _His_ complete and utterly wonderful person she married. But that could _never_ happen now. The man she _had_ married was horrible. He knew how troubled she was after Aang's death, and whenever she cries, it irritates him, and he starts yelling at her, telling her things like 'He's dead! He's never coming back! He died carving you that _stupid_ necklace! It's entirely yourfault he's DEAD!' Then Katara will start to whimper and sob, and he'll keep yelling at her all night, until he starts feeling good about it, and punches her until she has multiple bruises, and telling her that if she tells anyone what he does, he'll _really_ make her suffer. Many years later and Katara's pain and loss from Aang's death never went away.

I wish I could do something for her, Aang does too. It just kills him to see such an awful man married to her, in his place, right where he should be, hurting her. Avatar Roku and the other important spirits saw her hurting, and came to a conclusion. Katara needed one of us, either Aang or me, by her side now. They left us to decide who went, Aang told me to go, I told him to go. He looked at me with confusion, but I told him no. Aang was without a doubt the best thing that happened to Katara in her whole life, someone who truly loved her for all that she was. So he went, and I sent my regards with him. Now I watched Aang as I had Katara, as he waited for her in her home, already sending her freak of a husband running for his life. Aang thought he would have a wonderful life now, with Katara, but at that moment, she was standing on the top of Sokka's old watchtower, ready to dive into the icy water to her death. Sokka came bursting into her home, hoping to find her husband, only to find Aang standing in front of him. Sokka looked horrified to see Aang, and rubbed his eyes, muttering something like, 'It's just an illusion… a figment of my imagination!' But after rubbing his eyes and blinking many times, he smiled, and ran up to hug his friend. Suddenly his smile turned into a frown as he remembered what he was there for. "Aang! Katara's going to kill herself! She said something about how her husband is physically and mentally torturing her, and how she was going to die and live with you in the Spirit World! How did you come back to life anyway, and at the exact age you would be if you hadn't died?" Aang looked at Sokka, horrified.

"NO!" Aang yelled, "She can't do that, after all this time I'm finally back, this very day and she wants to kill herself NOW!" Aang ran out the door with his glider, and when he spotted Katara, he flew straight to her, praying he could get to her in time.

Meanwhile, Hakoda was yelling at his daughter, trying to calm her down. "Katara stop this now! This is not they right way to stop your pain Katara!"

Katara was sobbing. "It's the only way Dad, the only way I can ever see him again!" Katara had lost her mind. "I'll be with you soon enough Aang!!" Katara yelled at the top of her lungs, loud enough for Aang to hear. Then she closed her eyes, jumped from off the tall tower, and fell for the water below.

Aang made it just in time, and scooped her up in one arm. He smiled so wide, I don't think I've seen one wider. "This too soon for you?" Aang whispered in her ear. Aang set her gently on the ground next to her father, and stood there with a silly grin.

Hakoda pulled Katara to her feet, and wrapped her in a tight embrace, but while staring at Aang with wide eyes. When Katara turned to look at her rescuer, she started crying, and yelled, "What kind of sick _joke_ is this supposed to _be!? _Who are you and why are you trying to get me to believe you're _really_ him!?" No one expected this answer from Katara, especially Aang.

Aang's face contorted with sadness, tears leaked from his eyes and he said, "No, Katara, it really is me… really! You have to believe me! No one else in the WORLD _can_ airbend… and that just now was airbending! Please, look into my eyes, and then tell me I'm a fake!" Aang pleaded desperately.

Katara's eyes, still pouring tears, looked up into his. (Aang grew; he's about a foot taller than Katara now!) "Aang…" Katara whispered as her face lit up and she raced to him and held him tightly. Their hug lasted so long, but when they pulled apart, it didn't feel long enough. "Aang, how are you here? How is this happening?" Katara said, grinning the whole time, the old cheer in her voice.

"It's a pretty long story, I'll tell you later, okay." Aang said.

Something important must have gone through Katara's head, because she suddenly lifted her arms high in the air, and a wave of snow crashed down on Aang. "YES!" Katara shrieked in delight. "I can waterbend again!!" Aang smiled, and told her I said hello, and that I was so happy for her and how proud I was. Katara quickly glanced up at Aang, discarded the necklace her freak of a husband made her, and reached up her sleeve, retrieving Aang's engagement necklace, and tied it around her neck.

Aang whispered to her quickly, "Don't worry about him, I sent him running from a 'ghost'!" Katara laughed.

**THE END**


End file.
